Being Human (8)

By the time Folusho knocked on the door and Dolapo opened for her to come in, she was already fully dressed. She had her bag all set to step out. She was excited to see her friend but she couldn't hide her worry; she could not afford to be played, again.

"Not even a hug?" Folusho said as she walked past her friend to sit on the bed.

"I'm sorry Flo. You know I'm excited to see you... There's just so much on my mind right now" Dolapo moved to where her best friend was and gave her a hug. Folusho hugged her back and wondered what the matter was.

"Thanks for coming. We'll be leaving this Abuja together oh... I hope you know that already" She was more relaxed now. Maybe all she actually needed was a hug, she thought to herself.
Folusho who had tried to form serious face for about two minutes just burst into laughter.

"You and who? No be only you waka come? See ehn, my mind is no longer in this Abuja oh. If not because you said you were coming for the weekend, I would have left with my colleagues. Lagos calleth thy maid servant"
The two ladies burst into another round of laughter. Dolapo was really glad her friend came over. She hoped she would be able to convince her to spend the night and then leave the following day, just like her.

"You didn't tell me Jay was an Abuja big boy now" Folusho was now admiring the room. She stood up and began walking round the room.

"...and he's got such great taste; furniture wise, colours to combine, the decor, artwork and of course, you, my lovely friend, the future Mrs. Jay" Folusho said in such dramatic tone, laughing so hard and pointing at her friend's image in the mirror while Dolapo matched her lips to blend the lipstick properly, controlling herself so as not spoil her make-up. She joined in the laughter afterwards.

"That's how we roll - The 'Jay' Team" Dolapo pulled her friend and they both left the room for the sitting room.

She found Jay paying so much attention to the recipe being shown on Food Network; he looked like he was making mental notes. She went straight to where he was seated, took him by the hand, squeezed lightly, smiling at him as though she wanted to pass a message across to him.
Jay stood up holding his girlfriend's hands like he got the message, gave the remote control to Folusho and they both left for the kitchen. Folusho just smiled at both of them and said "I go love oh"  in her mind.

"Got your message. Very funny... Good morning Jay..." Dolapo helped with the saucers. They were going to have sandwich, not the normal one though - no meal was ever normal with Jay being the chef, and tea for breakfast, even though it was almost noon.
Jay paused on his serving.

"Just good morning? Where's the kiss to accompany the greeting? Be romantic, babe" Jay teased.

"No kisses for you again oh..." Dolapo was now smiling. This guy really knew how to make her smile, she thought to herself.
"When are we going out? It's almost noon..."

"Soon, very soon babe. I'd go get dressed now while you ladies enjoy your meal." He walked up to his babe, planted a soft kiss on her neck and off he went to get dressed.

Exactly 15 minutes after, they were all set to leave the house for their tour. Jay had informed Folusho, while trying to remind Dolapo that he had a meeting to attend with his crew and he would probably just drop the ladies off at one of the big plazas to shop and then come back later to pick them.
That was the greatest idea of the day for the ladies. There was so much to talk about and they could not be more glad that Jay had seen through that fact and was ready to release them to tour Abuja, almost on their own.
They chatted all through the drive from Apo legislative quarters to Area 3 where Jay's Cuisine Extraordinaire was situate, Folusho doing what she knew how to do best - making the love birds laugh all through the drive.

***
Uche had seen his boss trying to park in his alloted spot where no other vehicle was allowed to park and he wished he had called earlier to tell him to delay his coming. He noticed the two ladies in the car, laughing most of the time and then checking their phones for whatever it was. There was a car parked in Jay's spot. Jay recognised it immediately but tried not to change his countenance, as he continued with the laughter. He parked in the last empty spot, just beside the Ford Explorer.

"Ladies, we're here." He sounded like a real tour guide and smiled at the ladies as they stepped out of the car.

"Jay... this is... yours? Wow... Oh my goodness" Dolapo was lost for words, and so was Folusho but she just smiled and held her friend by the hand instead of joining in the Wow song.

"Look at your face... This isn't mine jor. I rented the space" Jay laughed as he took the lead, walking straight into the restaurant and avoiding Kingsley whom he had seen sitting at the first table to the right as one walked in.

"Good day sir.... Good day sir" from left, right and center.
Uche walked straight to Jay, whispered something in his ear  and followed Jay into his office with the ladies. Jay maintained his cool as he instructed Uche to call the rest of the team into his office. Before long, Uche, Ethan, Sheila and the new team member, Deji were in Jay's office.
Jay introduced his girlfriend and her friend, Folusho to the team, and they welcomed the ladies warmly, shaking hands and exchanging pleasantries.
Jay's office was another beauty to behold. Dolapo and Folusho sat on the sofa, admiring the office. Dolapo was quick to notice a photoframe on Jay's table. She stood up from the Sofa and reached out for the photoframe, and of course, a wide smile engulfed her lips as she saw the picture they had taken at one of the major events Jay had planned and catered for while he was still in Abeokuta.
She was satisfied. She went back to the sofa and watched as her boyfriend dished out several instructions to the crew till they were all out of the office.

"Let's take a selfie... this place is so fine" Folusho interrupted Dolapo's thoughts.

"You and pictures. Don't you ever get tired?"

"Nah. More pictures yet to be taken, so don't even start with your whining..."
... Jay, please can you take a picture of us" Folusho gave her phone to Jay. It wasn't like he had a choice anyway.
Jay ended up taking about seven pictures or more, as the ladies went on with the pouting and the bending of necks, and the tongue out, and the pretence to be looking at something on the floor. At a point, he couldn't help but laugh out. He wondered if ladies got trained on all these poses. He was more than happy when Dolapo voiced out that it was enough. He gave Folusho her phone back, excused himself while imploring the ladies to feel free as he would be back in a jiffy.

It was now time for Folusho do the Wow song.

"Babes, hook your girl up now. I need a job oh, honestly." Folusho tried to feign seriousness.

"You need a job? Please don't make me laugh. I also need a job. At least, he would employ me first before he thinks of employing  you..."

"But seriously, this guy is mouthed. You say he's been here for just three months?"

"Yep. I'm as surprised as you are. Whenever we talk, he makes it sound like he's still struggling and all, and i've always had this moderate image of the kinda restaurant he was running here. I must have under-estimated him or something. Look at his house... I hear houses here are not chicken change..."

"Of course. That hotel my company lodged us in.... mehn, you should see the place. One Reiz Continental Hotel, very lovely place. When I heard how much the company paid per night, I was stunned. The houses, shops and any rentable thing here don't come cheap"  Folusho went on and on about people she knew lived in Abuja and how they lamented about the rent and so on.

"But you're lucky oh. Dude is obviously comfortable. Now, that's another advantage of coming from a rich home" Folusho continued.

"Well... maybe. I really don't know. I just don't feel at peace with all these; the luxury and all. It's Jay now. I've known him for 10months and I know his parents are well to do and all but he has always been very independent from scratch. His high taste is not a surprise, he has always had such high taste for cars, furniture, gadgets and kitchen equipments. It's just..." 

"just what?" Folusho cut in, she was trying so hard to figure out what was bothering Dolapo. She should be happy. She deserved this kind of guy; rich for his level, focused, had a booming business and loved her.


"I don't know jare. I'm just trying to be careful, you know? I'm not sure I can afford to loose him to all these Senators' daughters; Abuja babes and all" Dolapo eventually voiced out.

"Now, I see what the problem is. He hasn't talked about settling down, right?"
Dolapo nodded and turned to face the other side of the room.

"Chai. Do-la-po. Give it time, will you? I hope you've not been talking about marriages of your friends and their kids and all those family related issues just to pass the message across?" Folusho turned her friend's face towards hers and looked straight into her eyes as if to fish out the answer to her question by herself.

"Just take a deep breath and don't do anything pushy. You will only paint yourself as being desperate..."

"But we're old enough now... what's keeping him?"

"Hush. Don't act desperate. You don't need it. Okay?"

"Okay" Dolapo's tone dropped.

"And learn to trust him" Folusho smiled at her friend, moved closer to her, bent her neck towards Dolapo's, pouted and took another picture.
They both looked at each other and started laughing.

***

Uche was standing outside Jay's office and as Jay stepped out of the office, he took his friend and boss by the hand and walked him to the store.

"Why didn't you tell me they were here?" Jay was worried.

"I didn't know you would come so fast. It's just kingsley that is here, though. He says he has a message for you or something. I tried to take the message down but he insisted on waiting to deliver the message personally" Uche was even more worried. He was however glad that the madam herself had not come to wait for Jay as her custom was.

"Okay, okay. I know what to do. Please get the ladies something to eat. I'd go fix this mess" Jay walked away, leaving Uche at the store.

***
He was now seated in front of kingsley, trying to act all nice and welcoming.

"Yes? What's the message?" Jay kept his cool as always.

"Here..." Kingsley pushed a small box to Jay, he wasn't in the mood for any fake smiles.

Jay took the box, stood up and beckoned on one of the waitresses to serve the gentleman who was apparently not interested in the food, as Kingsley stood up right after Jay to take his leave.

He opened the box and saw a pair of silver cufflinks with a tiny note that read "6.00pm". He got the message; he knew what it meant for a complimentary gift to be delievered before a visit to the madam. He sighed and hurriedly put the box in his pocket, walked back to his office and paid simple compliments to those at the service point.


*Faith Tunde-Yara
*Being Human
*Photo credit: notonthehighstreet.com